Heirloom

The gentrification of Sheung Wan continues with Heirloom, a new restaurant on Hollywood Road, a stone’s throw west of 208 and directly across from the brightly painted entrance gate of Hollywood Road Park.

Pisco and K dropped by as we heard that they had tacos on the menu, and if there is something that Hong Kong desperately needs, it’s more tacos.  We arrived around dusk and sat at a table adjacent to the sidewalk.  The space on the ground level was completely open and the opportunity to dine al fresco on this mild evening was wonderful.  More tables are located upstairs on the first floor, where bookings are accommodated.

The menu is relatively compact, with sections listing tacos, appetizers, sandwiches, mains/larger plates, and desserts.  Sandwiches were not available at dinner, although it was not clear if that was standard policy or a one-off on this evening.

Heirloom offers four kinds of taco: carnitas, fish, black bean, and chicken mole.  We chose two fish tacos, one carnitas, and one chicken mole.  The salads look interesting, so we ordered a Balinese salad, with red cabbage, chopped long beans, kaffir lime leaf, and chicken, with a lime/lemongrass dressing.

The server informed me that the chicken in the salad would be 30 dollars extra, even though the description on the menu included chicken and had no mention of a surcharge.  Note to management: make sure your menu clearly communicates pricing.  While the dollar value of the charge is not large, it left a bad taste in my mouth (figuratively) and felt unprofessional, as it wasn’t clear if it was a menu printing error or if they had just changed the price in the few weeks they had been open.

I declined the chicken upsell.

The salad arrived first, and it is a colorful explosion of a dish, with a few slices of avocado lying on a Jackson Pollock mess of shredded purple cabbage.  Small bits of long beans are scattered throughout.  The texture and taste were quite good, with the rich avocado serving as a counterpoint to the crisp cabbage.  The taste of kaffir lime leaf is quite strong; some may feel it’s overpowering but I quite liked it.  Overall the salad has a refreshing taste and something I would order again on a humid summer night.

It is an absolutely monstrous portion, and I find it unlikely that one person would be able to finish it.  Our party of two barely finished it.

Of course, when the tacos arrived, I realized why we would need to finish the salad.  There is no diplomatic way to say this, so let’s just state that the tacos are small.  Diminutive.  Larger than microscopic, as they are visible with the naked eye; a crestfallen eye undoubtedly moistened with sadness and disappointment.

The tacos are served on small corn tortillas, but they use one per taco, where most tacos I’ve eaten are served on two (long internet debate; TL;DR – it depends).  It did not help that they were a little greasy, either, so some of the tacos ended up being greasy globs of goodness (look at the carnitas, front left in photo) wrapped in a greasy tortilla that was practically falling apart.  Not exactly what I wanted in my taco.

The taco fillings are generally delicious, if limited in quantity due to the single-tortilla policy.  The whitefish tacos were perfect, with the chunks of fish meat cooked just right so they were done but not falling apart.  The carnitas was competent if not spectacular.  The chicken mole was a little tough and forgettable, but as nothing can come close to the mole I regularly ate at La Carta de Oaxaca, you should probably order it and judge for yourself.

If the fish tacos were doubled in size, three would make a decent meal.  As it stands, you probably need to order eighteen to fill your belly.  Alternatively, order the Balinese salad and you will be fine.

The space at Heirloom is literally a breath of fresh air, and the actual food is promising; I am sure the execution will improve as they have just opened.  I salute the ambition of the menu to combine some traditional Mexican flavors with an Asian twist (eg, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf).  Nobody else in town is exploring this palette of flavors and they deserve to be tried at least once.

The one aspect of the experience that prevents me from recommending repeat visits is the price.  One salad, four tacos, and a cup of tea ran 263 HKD with no service charge; I added a modest 10% gratuity, bringing the total for the meal to a frankly extortionate 290 HKD.

As expat incursions continue eastward, I am quite certain Heirloom will be successful, overrun with a stream of guests hopping out of taxis that were hailed in Mid-Levels.

But if I see any of them misbehaving at Mr Taco Truck in Quarry Bay, while I am eating the best tacos in Hong Kong and drowning in horchata, you will hear from me.

Food: B+
Ambiance: A
Service: C
Value: D
Overall: C+

Heirloom
226 Hollywood Road
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
+852 2547 8008
[map]

Song

Pisco has walked by Song a hundred times, always wondering what kind of establishment could be hidden down the alley off of Hollywood Road.  A rainy day turned out to be the inspiration to give this Vietnamese restaurant a try.

The interior is quite beautiful and calming.  There is a central bar area with a couple seats, and tables on either side.  While not a huge space, the room probably seats close to forty diners, but it doesn’t feel particularly crowded.  The walls are painted in muted yellow, and there are tasteful black and white photographs of Vietnam displayed everywhere.  Add a touch of triphop and the environment feels sleek and modern.

The clientele on this evening was 95% Aussie, so if you’re from Sydney and you are homesick, this might be the place for you.

The service is adequate but could use some improvement. None of the service oversights were egregious but I did expect tighter service given the price levels (eg, don’t make me ask to refill my water glass).  Although it was a Saturday night, they were not close to full and nailing the basics is not an unreasonable request.

We ordered three dishes: soft-shell crab and avocado summer roll, beef salad, and green papaya and mango salad with prawn.

The soft-shell crab and avocado rice paper rolls were delicious.  It’s a great combination, with the rich avocado balancing the vinegar dipping sauce.  The crab was fried just right and it filled the roll in copious quantity.  It’s the one dish you should certainly order.

The beef salad was serviceable.  I felt the beef was a little tasteless and slightly chewy, but K enjoyed it thoroughly.

The green papaya and mango salad packs quite a punch.  It has a little kick from a few chopped chillies, but there are other strong flavors that are anything but subtle.  The kaffir lime leaf hits you over the head, so if you enjoy this flavor, you’ll love this dish.  The prawn were fine, if tasteless, but the tasty mango and papaya make this dish worth ordering.

Three small plates and one drink ran around 330 HKD.  If you order mains and a couple drinks, the bill will be substantially higher.

Song is a slick, modern restaurant that serves healthy Vietnamese cuisine.  The food quality is a little uneven but the environment is well-executed and polished.  If you need the security of a booking on a busy night, Song could be the place for you.  For a higher standard of Vietnamese fare, I recommend standing in line at Nha Trang.

Food: B
Service: B-
Environment: A-
Value: C
Overall: B-

Song
75 Hollywood Road
Central, Hong Kong
+852 2559 0997
[map]

Review: Serenade

Serenade, a new Italian restaurant, just opened in Sheung Wan.  It’s across from Hollywood Road Park, so you can see trees while you eat – a rare and pleasant sight in this town.

The interior has a somewhat severe aspect to it, having been decorated mostly in grey concrete and muted tones.  The lights are fantastic – plexiglass globes suspended from the ceiling with small light bulbs inside.   A wine rack runs along one wall, and there are seats for around 20 diners in the room.  Further in, a semi-open kitchen is visible, and there is a short bar with a few stools.  The music was relaxing and the overall environment was quite calm.

I can’t remember what the tables look like, but the chairs are bent plywood and comfortable enough for an hour, though probably not much more.

The menu is extensive with 50+ items on it.  I usually get nervous with such large selections (how can you really be good at such a wide variety of dishes?) but it will take a few return visits to learn the best choices.  Admittedly, Pisco is not an expert on Italian cuisine, but it was not apparent if there are any specific regions that inspired the menu (Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmonte, etc).

Pisco and K shared a plate of mussels to start – the mussels were large, plump, and flavorful; hands down it’s the best plate of mussels I’ve had in HK, even beating out Frites due to the consistency of the large mussel size.  The broth was delicious and garlicky, without too much butter.  Yes, we mopped up the broth with the bread.  A clear A grade except for the bread, which, being spongy and flaccid, receives a D.

For mains, both of us ordered the crab linguine.  K originally wanted the linguine alle vongole but they were out of clams (helpful tip to server: the correct pronunciation of ‘vongole’ has three syllables, and does not rhyme with ‘Mongol’).  The linguine comes on a plate that is the size of a 12-inch

record, for those of you who are old enough to have ever seen one.  There is a large Asian pear-sized grapefruit-sized depression in the centre where they place the actual food – see photo.  The pasta was a little overcooked, but certainly edible, and the crab was rich and flavorful.  K remarked that it felt a little flat, and it was true that a shot of lemon juice could have brightened the flavor substantially.  Nonetheless it is a solid effort, adequate in quantity, and I would return to try it again.  Grade: B.

For dessert we split an orange soufflé.  It came out hot, fully inflated, and gently flavored of orange – a competent execution of a non-trivial item.

Orange soufflé

The service is reasonably competent and probably above the normal HK standard.  That said, I do not enjoy the constant requests of “Would you like to try our X dish which is amazing tonight?”  No, thank you, I don’t want another starter, I don’t want a glass of wine, and I don’t want the chocolate dessert.  How about you let me tell you what I want?  I appreciate the need to upsell but my tolerance in this area is quite limited as it detracts from my overall dining experience.

A plate of mussels, two plates of pasta, one soufflé, and a bottle of Pellegrino ran around 570 HKD.

Finally, one note on the name: searching for “serenade hong kong” brings up two other well-known entities of that name (one residential complex, one other restaurant company).  It’s not easy to find online, and the nonexistent website does not help matters at all.  Serenade should consider boosting their online presence as other customers who do not live so close may not bother with the effort to find it.

Ambiance: B+
Food: B
Service: B-
Value: B-
Overall: B

Serenade
Hollywood Road, across from Hollywood Road Park
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
[map]

Burger review: Coast Bistro & Bar

Coast Burger

Pisco continues the search for the perfect burger in Hong Kong.  Last night’s contestant was Coast Bistro & Bar, just off Hollywood Road next to the escalator.  After a day spent hiking on and around The Peak, a burger seemed like the right way to recharge.  I still have not found the perfect “go to” burger joint, so it was time to try a new place.

The room is very well designed, with great soft lighting and lots of space in between tables.  The mirrors on the wall add a bit of space to the room without accosting you with your own reflection at every turn.  The crowd inside seemed to be having a great time, though it was strange that the bar was full and the main dining area sparsely populated on a Saturday night.

Coast is an Aussie joint, with a great selection of steak and fish dishes.  We were there just for the burgers, though, so when the server appeared, we asked for “two Coast burgers, rare”, thank you very much, and handed back the menus.  Almost as an afterthought we ordered a side salad, and a couple of glasses of Shiraz.

The burgers looked great when they arrived.  The burger itself is quite wide, and as the patty is not enormous, you can guess that it’s not that thick.  I don’t have anything against a non-thick patty, except to note that they are harder to serve rare.  By the time the outside has been seared. the inside is already past rare, in many cases.  With a thicker patty, it’s easier to keep the inside rare while it’s on the grill.

The burger bun is a strange crisped flatbread, somewhat of a cross between a pita and a focaccia.  Never having had a burger in Oz, I don’t know if this is common practice there, but I can’t say I’m a fan.  The bun did not completely cover the patty, which is a cardinal error.  The texture was quite good – it was easy to bite off a hunk – but I prefer a more substantial bun to balance the patty and all of its accompaniments.  Speaking of accompaniments, there was a good selection of chopped lettuce, caramelized onions, and thin beet slices inside.  However, the top flatbread was slathered in barbecue sauce, which (again) may be standard in Oz, but I strongly feel that it should be served on the side, unless the burger is sold as a “BBQ Burger” on the menu.

The shoestring fries were crisp, hot, and close to perfect – they may be the best fries I have eaten in Hong Kong.  I don’t know the source of their ketchup, but it hit all the right notes – not too sweet, and balanced with an agreeable vinegar tanginess.  The next time I am struck with an urge for a beer and a plate of fries, you will find me at Coast.

It’s quite a good burger, even thought it’s a handful to eat with the thin bun.  The burger has a lot of flavor, but it tended to fall apart (as it was too thin), and it felt a little greasy, perhaps because the bun was insubstantial.  I was happy with the fixings, and would have been thrilled if the beet slices were larger.

The fries (and ketchup) were perfect and memorable and worth a return trip on their own.

Dear Coast, please consider these suggestions during your next burger update:

• Make your patty smaller but fatter.  You’ll be able to serve a truly rare burger.
• Change your weird flatbread bun to something more substantial.  I salute your creativity and am sure you’ll find something appropriate and authentic from your great continent.
• Serve the BBQ sauce on the side, unless you change the name on the menu to “BBQ Coast Burger”

Two burgers, two glasses of Shiraz, and a side salad ran nearly 600 (!) HKD.

Food: B
Service: A
Setting: A
Value: C-
Overall: B-

Coast Bistro & Bar
1/F Kinwick Centre
32-36 Hollywood Road
SoHo, Hong Kong
+852 2544 5888

Pisco is still looking for the perfect burger (suggestions please!), but here’s my HK list so far, for gourmet (ie not fast food) burgers:

Recommended:

1. Soho No. 8 Aargh, apparently they are now closed!
2. Coast

Not recommended:

1. Gourmet Burger Union

Alas, the search continues…